Talk on bird identification slated at Kellogg Environmental Center in Derby

DERBY - Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and The Naugatuck Valley Audubon Society will host Phantasms & Fallacies: The Pitfalls in Bird Identification presented by Julian Hough, longtime member of the Connecticut Avian Rare Records Committee at 7 p.m. Sept. 21 at Kellogg Environmental Center.  

In this entertaining talk, Hough answers questions about why some individual birds are misidentified by large groups of people.  

Hough will discuss how we all are susceptible to making mistakes in the field.

Originally from England, Hough spent time birding around the British Isles in pursuit of rare birds. 
His focus on field identification led to extensive travel to India, Nepal, China, Australia, Europe, and Central and South America.  

Hough has worked as a research biologist for both Long Point (Canada) and Cape May Bird Observatory (USA) and was part of a team that documented ‘morning flight’ (the directed and often visible movement of migrant songbirds in the first few hours after sunrise) at Cape May in the late 1980s.

Hough formerly worked as a journalist on Britain’s top-selling bird magazine, Birdwatching. His work has been published in many books and periodicals, notably the recently award-winning “Rare Birds Where and When” that was written by the late Russell Slack.  

He currently resides in New Haven with his young son, Alex.

Kellogg Environmental Center is at 500 Hawthorne Ave. A donation of $5/adult is requested. 

Children under 12 are free. 

Light refreshments will be served. 

For further information, directions, or to register call 203-734-2513 or email donna.kingston@ct.gov.

This is a press release from DEEP.

Presentation on waterfowl planned at Kellogg Environmental Center in Derby

DERBY - The Naugatuck Valley Audubon Society, in cooperation with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announces a March program for the entire family at the Kellogg Environmental Center.

Come learn about Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy in Litchfield with Environmental Education Director Ben Sonnenbergon at 7 p.m. March 16.  

S. Dillon Ripley, an ornithologist and aviculturist with an extensive list of accomplishments, began his collection of waterfowl at the Litchfield duck pond in the 1920s at the age of 17. 

Along with housing native Connecticut waterfowl, the work of collecting, research, breeding, propagating, and release of threatened and endangered waterfowl species from around the world continues today. 

Whether you have visited LWRC or not, this is a program that will surely fascinate you.

The mission of LRWC is to conserve waterfowl and wetlands through research, education, and conservation.  

Sonnenberg will enlighten participants on waterfowl natural history and, as winter is courtship season, breeding displays. 

LWRC is home to more than 60 species of waterfowl, along with an Eurasian Eagle Owl, Barn Owl, and Laughing Kookaburra. Sonnenberg will bring a few of the Avian Ambassadors so be sure to join us and meet some live birds. 

Sonnenberg relocated from Bozeman, Mont., is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University and has worked at the Alaska Sealife Center. 

In his free time, Sonnenberg volunteers as a bird bander at Bent of the River and with Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship program at Sharon Audubon.

The Kellogg Environmental Center is at 500 Hawthorne Ave. 

A donation of $5/adult is requested. Children under 12 admitted free. 

Light refreshments will be served after the meeting. 

For more information, directions, or to register call 203-734-2513 or email donna.kingston@ct.gov.

This is a press release from DEEP.